Mark Ballard

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Mark Ballard
Mark Ballard

Mark Ballard (born June 27, 1971) is Lord Rector of the University of Edinburgh and co-convener of the Edinburgh Green Party. Ballard was a Member of the Scottish Parliament for Lothians region between 2003 and 2007, representing the Scottish Green Party. He is now head of campaigns for the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations.

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[edit] Personal life

Ballard was born in Leeds, England on June 27th 1971. During his childhood he lived in Punjab, India (1973-1975) and Islamabad, Pakistan (1984-1985).[1] He married Heather Stacey on 28 September 2002 and his first son, Adam, was born on Saturday 18 February 2006. He attends the Edinburgh Central Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends. His favourite pub in Edinburgh is the Southsider on West Richmond St, which in his words is "a proper cosy Edinburgh Pub, and it’s a micro-brewery too".[2]

[edit] Education

He attended Lawnswood Comprehensive school in Leeds before going on to Edinburgh University, where he gained an MA(Hons) in Economic and Social History.[3] He is a life member of the Edinburgh University Union, part of the Edinburgh University Students Association (EUSA).[4] In February 2006 he was elected Rector of Edinburgh University (see below).

[edit] Career and Politics

Between 1994 and 1998 he worked for European Youth Forest Action (now European Youth For Action) in Edinburgh and Amsterdam. After this until 2001 he worked as editor of the journal Reforesting Scotland before setting up an environmental communications consultancy company that ran until 2003.[5]

He joined the youth wing of the Labour Party when he was 15 and remained a member until 1991. At this point he became involved in the Scottish Green Party's student movement. He ran as a candidate for this party in the 1995 council elections, the 1999 Scottish Parliamentary election and a 2001 council by-election. He was first elected in the 2003 Holyrood election, as the second Green MSP in the Lothians.

He was a member of the Scottish Parliament Finance Committee [1] and is also substitute member of the Enterprise and Culture Committee.[6] He has committed substantial time to promoting social enterprises and co-operatives, as a Green alternative to the current system. [7] He also used the position to call for sustainable procurement guidelines, support ethical investment campaigns, and make the case for Scottish utilities being in public ownership. As the Green speaker on Transport, Mark Ballard supported campaigns against the Dalkeith by-pass and the M74, for the trams in Edinburgh and for a better and cheaper public transport system. As a Lothians MSP he helped raise awareness of community initiatives such as the campaign to resist a huge superstore development in Portobello, supporting the calls for congestion charging in Edinburgh, assisting universities wanting to make the switch to Fairtrade and opposing tuition fees for students. The latter in particular helped him win support amongst Edinburgh's student community.

He has also been involved in direct action campaigning, most notably against British nuclear weapons on the River Clyde at Faslane, against the release of Genetically modified organisms and motorway construction through the group Earth First[citation needed]. He has been arrested at Faslane several times, as part of the CND 'Big Blockade', most recently in August 2004. He was involved in a long-running court case over the destruction of a field of rapeseed at the Roslin Institute near Dalkeith in 1999. [Although initially found guilty of "wilfully and recklessly" destroying plants belonging to Monsanto,[8] all charges were quashed due to a delay in the hearing of the appeal - which Mr Ballard claimed was because the Crown was unable to provide relevant evidence.[9]


He holds membership of a large number of organisations listed in his Register of Interest[10] as Friends of the Earth, Sustrans, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Democratic Left Scotland, Reforesting Scotland, Water of Leith Conservation Trust, Friends of Inverleith Park, SSPCA, Advocates for Animals and Scottish Education and Action for Development. Until 2005 he was also an unpaid director of UK charity Seeds for Change,[11] treasurer of the Scottish Environmental Festivals association and is on the editorial board of the Scottish Left Review - a bi-monthly cross party journal of the Scottish left.

In February 2006 he stood for election as Rector the University of Edinburgh standing against MP Boris Johnson, pro-Palestine journalist John Pilger and former Scotsman editor Magnus Linklater. The election received a high level of publicity mostly due to Boris Johnson's candidature.

The election took place on the 15th / 16th February 2006, with a turn out of almost 8000. A system of Single Transferable Vote was used. In the final round Mark Ballard received 3,597 votes against Magnus Linklater's 3,052[12] and was elected.

He was formally installed on the 9th June 2006 in a ceremony in the University's Old College. Present at this ceremony were the Chancellor of the University, HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the University Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Professor Timothy O'Shea, and Mark Ballard's predecessor as Rector, Labour MP Tam Dalyell.[13]. In this capacity he continues to work on issues of concern to students and university staff, including playing a prominent role in the movement which led to the complete abolishing of student tuition fees in Scotland in 2008. [14]


In December 2007 he was appointed as communications manager at the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations

Academic offices
Preceded by
Tam Dalyell		 Rector of the University of Edinburgh
2006 –		 Succeeded by
Current incumbent

[edit] References

  1. ^ Mark Ballard MSP - Biography
  2. ^ http://www.markballard.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=26&Itemid=36
  3. ^ Redirecting in 10 seconds
  4. ^ Redirecting in 10 seconds
  5. ^ Mark Ballard MSP - Biography
  6. ^ Redirecting in 10 seconds
  7. ^ Peter McColl (Former Assistant to Mark Ballard) on Green economics http://www.slrp.co.uk/test1/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=146&Itemid=1
  8. ^ BBC News | SCOTLAND | GM crop campaigners found guilty
  9. ^ http://www.connectotel.com/gmfood/sc290303.txt
  10. ^ Redirecting in 10 seconds
  11. ^ Seeds for Change - training and support
  12. ^ BBC NEWS | Scotland |Uni students choose Green rector
  13. ^ News & Events - University Installs New Rector
  14. ^ The Journal » Edinburgh University Rector speaks in favour of free higher education

[edit] External links

[edit] Articles by Mark Ballard